Thousands of registered teachers aged 45 and above are yet to be hired by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), even as they near retirement, Parliament was told on Tuesday. A total of 39,017 such teachers remain unemployed, according to records shared with the National Assembly’s Education Committee.

The data, drawn from the TSC’s records as of June 2025, indicates the affected teachers were born between 1966 and 1978. The TSC appeared before the committee, chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly, to explain the status of these tutors and clarify why many of them have not secured employment.

However, TSC’s acting Chief Executive Officer, Evelene Mitei, told the lawmakers that being listed as unemployed does not necessarily mean the teachers are still actively seeking work.

“I wish to clarify the fact that the teachers are indicated as unemployed by the commission does not necessarily mean that the said teachers are available in the job market. Majority of these teachers have pursued different career paths in the various sectors of our economy including teaching in private schools,” Mitei said.

But the MPs insisted on clear and specific data. Melly directed the commission to sort out the database and separate those who are still jobless from those working in other sectors.

“The fact that you are employers of primary and secondary schools, we do not want Early Childhood Development teachers, give us clear data on those aged 45 and above and are not employed,” he said.

Melly also asked the TSC to provide a policy document outlining how it plans to handle the issue of affirmative action in hiring, in case new opportunities arise. He said that while some of the registered teachers may have moved on to other fields, the intention was to explore ways of prioritising them for employment.

“The aim of the statement sought was to see how we can have affirmative action to get them employed, give us the list of all people in two weeks,” he added.

In response, Mitei requested time to consult internally before reporting back to the committee on how the cases of older teachers would be managed.

She disclosed that out of the 39,017 teachers on record, only 2,837 had declared their counties and subcounties, while the remaining 36,180 had not provided any such information.

“Accordingly, the commission is not able to analyse with accuracy the counties the said teachers hail from. Out of the 2,837, 56 are from Uasin Gishu, 10 from Homa Bay, 8 from Migori and 7 from Nandi,” she said.

Mitei further told MPs that in the 2024/25 financial year, the commission received 1,264 applications from teachers aged over 45. From that number, only 516 were hired, and they were spread across different counties.

She explained that in cases where applicants score the same marks after all criteria are considered, TSC uses age as the tie-breaker, giving preference to older candidates.

To help solve the challenge of delayed recruitment and reduce late entry into the profession, Mitei said the commission is working to revise the current employment framework and has repeatedly called for more funding.

“The commission has consistently appealed to the National Assembly for an enhanced budget for recruitment of teachers,” she said.

“Recruitment of teachers across the country is premised on availability of funds and existence of vacancies in authorised establishments. The commission has placed its case for more funds to facilitate recruitment of teachers,” she added.

She also pointed out that the TSC scoring system gives more points to older candidates and those who graduated earlier, which is part of the adjustments aimed at addressing late hiring.